Law catches up with Batman of Buenos Aires

Oscar Lefosse is a former cop who served from 1986 to 1996. His gun licence expired a year ago.

A self-styled Buenos Aires superhero who fought crime armed only with a costume, mask and pepper spray is now on weapons charges.

Thanks to an alleged shootout with muggers, the superhero has been charged with carrying an unlicensed gun, police said.

The man who called himself Menganno - Spanish for Joe Blow - and became famous in Argentine media is actually Oscar Lefosse, 43, a former cop who served from 1986 to 1996. It turns out his gun licence expired a year ago.

On Tuesday, Lefosse told police that three petty criminals opened fire on his car as he drove with his wife. He returned fire with his Glock pistol.

On his Facebook page, "Menganno" - 33,000 followers - posted a photo of what he said was his bullet-ridden car.

But a policeman quoted by the news agency Telam said the shots all came from inside the car.

"He could have killed somebody, an innocent bystander. He is irresponsible," the official said.

In an interview with AFP in 2010, Menganno described himself as "a real, flesh and blood superhero. My goal is for all of us to be better and show more solidarity. Injustice makes me sick".

He said then that he only defended himself with a flashlight, pepper spray and a compass, and had a company in the security sector. He did not elaborate.

"I do not walk around the street armed. I keep my gun at home," he said on Thursday on Argentine TV.

Lefosse used to hide his identity behind a mask that was a mix of dark and baby blue and co-ordinated nicely colour-wise with a Batman-style suit he wore, with a symbol on his chest to boot.